If you thought Catfish and The Bottlemen had pretty much exhausted the indie rock arena with their stadium-sized sing-songs, you may well be correct. But growing up never really gets old, does it? And there are still bands knocking around who have a knack of condensing the chaos of our late teens into solid guitar-led pop tunes.
Ireland-based foursome The Academic are one of many hitching a lift on The Bottlemen’s rise and their latest single ‘Bear Claws’ shows that they’re more than capable of joining them amongst sweaty, summer festival crowds. The premise is simple “We all do stupid things at that time of our lives, not thinking about the longer-term implications,” said the band of the track. ‘Bear Claws’ is exactly what you’d expect and delivers a fresh-faced boost to the more accessible realms of its genre. It also has one of the catchiest choruses you’ll hear today.
